730 



GLKANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1920 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



duced and consumed many times as much 

 honey as then or now. 



Previous to the formation of the Texas 

 Honey Producers ' Association honey was 

 being sold by beekeepers in south Texas for 

 five to seven cents per pound, while now 

 they can get around 16 cents, or more. There 

 are two causes for this change of conditions. 

 One was the formation of the Texas Honey 

 Producers' Association, which acted to regu- 

 late the activities of the honey buyers, and 

 gave a ready market to the producer, where 

 he could get nearer the real value of his 

 product. The other was the increased de- 

 mand caused by the war conditions, men- 

 tioned above. 



If we can keep up the present demand or 

 increase it, and provide a way of getting 

 the producer into close touch with the mar- 

 ket, keeping the honey away from the glut- 

 ted markets, and sending it to the short 

 markets, there will be approximately a con- 

 tinuance of the present prices. These condi- 

 tions can be secured by judicious advertis- 

 ing and co-operation. 



Let us consider the first subject. The 

 American Honey Producers' League gives us 

 an organization that can advertise honey ef- 

 fectively and impartially. We know the re- 

 sults of the advertising campaign put on by 

 the A. I. Eoot Company, and how their honey 

 by that means was put on the shelves of 

 grocers who never before handled honey, 

 and in sections where it was an almost un- 

 known food. If one company can produce 

 such results, how much greater would be 

 the results from an organization that in- 

 cluded the beekeepers from Maine to Texas 

 and from Washington to Florida, completely 

 national in scope! If the American Honey 

 Producers' League has not sufficient funds 

 for a real national advertising campaign, it 

 should be possible to levy an assessment of 

 one or two cents per colony on its mem- 

 bers, which, if all supported it who should, 

 would provide a fund of possibly $100,000. 

 I don 't know the cost of such an advertising 

 campaign, but it seems to me that would 

 make quite a stir if it were judiciously 

 spent. 



Regarding co-operation, tlie American 

 Honey Producers' League is again the tool 

 to be used. Tliis organization proposes 

 among other things to keep its members 

 posted on production, market conditions, 

 and distribution, and demand. This shouhl 

 prevent congestion in glutted markets, and 

 diversion of shipments to markets that are 

 short; giving an even distribution and pre- 

 venting price cutting. 



We know the good results achieved by 

 the Texas Honey Producers' Association, 

 the Colorado, California and other co-opera- 

 tive organizations of beekeepers. If each 

 section will organize and then join the 



League, the producers will secure more uni- 

 form prices, and ready markets; and the 

 fighting in flooded markets (which, by the 

 way, does the consumer no good) will be al- 

 most controlled, except perhaps for small 

 local sales. 



Therefore it appears to the writer that 

 the answer to our question is the American 

 Honey Producers ' League, and every bee- 

 keeper should go into it either directly or 

 thru his association, and advocate a 

 small assessment for general national adver- 

 tising. 



Dallas, Tex. W E. Joor. 



GOOD RECORD OF INSIDE COLONY 



Experience in Keeping Bees in an Observation Hive 

 in a Chicago Home 



For several years we planned having an 

 observation hive with bees in our home. Liv- 

 ing as we do, in the big city of Chicago with 

 neighboring houses 12 and 25 feet from our 

 house and apartment buildings across the 

 street, it seemed something of an undertak- 

 ing. At last, however, we secured a shining, 

 varnished bee-home for one of our two colo- 

 nies in the back yard. 



We moved the bees a short distance each 

 day until we had them near our blooming 

 flowering currant bush just beneath the 

 southeast dining-room window. Then we 

 raised them a step up and back each day on 

 a scaffolding made of two stepladders and a 

 few boards until we had them over the bush 

 and right against the window. It was about 

 the middle of May when we finally placed 

 the bees in their new home by lifting the 

 frames with the bees from the old hive thru 

 the window into their new home. From 

 that time the bees became an interesting 

 and established part of our family. 



We had rested the hive on a support at- 

 tached to the window sill and fastened se- 

 curely at the two corners with inconspicu- 

 ous wires stretching diagonally upward to 

 the window casing. In this way the loosely 

 hanging window draperies were not inter- 

 fered with, and instead of being an unsightly 

 piece of furniture the hive made a really 

 decorative addition to the furnishings of the 

 room. A writing desk and a chair at one 

 side of the hive and a couch in the adjacent 

 south window made comfortable places to 

 rest while we observed the workings of the 

 busy inhabitants. It was especially pleasant 

 to lie on the couch and listen to the busy 

 hum and imagine we were by the lake side 

 listening to the lapping of the waves. The 

 roar was especially loud at night when all 

 the bees were in the hives veritably working 

 their lives away. 



Many were the interesting things we saw 



